Wolves 2 - City 1

City Couldn't Compete With Hungry Wolves

If this was the reaction Roberto Mancini expected after last weekends defeat to Arsenal then something isn`t quite right in the blue camp.

After performing so admirably and battling for every breath against Arsenal, City responded terribly with a toothless performance. This time Mancini`s men came unstuck against a plucky Wolves side that deserved their 2-1 victory.

City began the game brightly and took the lead with an Adebayor penalty, but with a second half portraying similar nightmares to Halloween, we were rightly disposed of.

Without Carlos Tevez- who was recovering from a thigh injury- City had the chance to eradicate all the criticism about a one man team. However, devoid of creativity, lacking tenacity and with a backline looking shakier than "The Pepsi Max" on a winter day, we frustrated ourselves.

Tevez`s direct replacement, Emmanuel Adebayor had the chance to prove his worth though and after an explosive start from the visitors- especially due to the inclusion of Ballotelli- the Togolese striker grabbed City a crucial opener.

Jerome Boateng started the move and after a bright ball to David Silva, the Spanish maestro was up to his old tricks. With the Wolves defence predicting a cross, Silva dragged the ball back spectacularly only to be brought down by a despairing lunge from Stearman. Referee Mike Dean awarded the penalty which Ade dispatched effortlessly.

From then on City would have hoped to keep asserting their presence, but the dogged fight back that ensued took The Blues by surprise.

Edwards`s physical stature was proving a handful for City`s centre back`s and when the striker latched on to two headers the equaliser was on the cards. First the defender produced a fingertip save from Hart and from the resulting corner witnessed another of his headers crash against the post.

After a fantastic response from the away side City left unscathed. If City really wanted to prove they have title ambitions then the 60 minutes that followed surely need to feature in "what not to do".

The grit and determination that is so vital when competing against sides like Wolves, Blackburn and Stoke etc was quickly fading. With Wolves not winning since the opening day confidence would have been short, something we needed to capitalise on.

Unfortunately, the passion displayed was lifeless. This wasn`t the sign of a team fighting for their shirt, the pride, the club. We were timid, afraid to put our bodies on the line, this side was a pale shadow of the one who climbed into second so powerfully.

Everything City were lacking Wolves were lapping up. The home side snatched the equaliser moments later and were looking far the better team. Milijas began the fightback after his sweetly struck shot from 18 yards beat Hart.

Chances were few and far between, but when given the chance it was the side bottom of the division who grasped their opening. After Kolo Toure failed to clear twice Edwards was on hand to clinch the eventual winner.

Despite the inclusion of Adam Johnson- something City fans were hoping to see from the first minute- we couldn`t scrape ourselves back into the game.

After scoring earlier Adebayor had the best of City`s chances when a lung busting run from Yaya Toure found Johnson who switched to Ade leaving only the striker to smash home.

As Wolves condemned us to our 3rd defeat of the season, the bright start to the campaign now looks a distant memory.

Player Ratings

Hart-6

Could do very little with either goals and made the one good save.

Richards-6

Powerful and quick one of City's better players.

Toure-5

Performed nothing like he did before his injury. Rushed back too soon?

Kompany-6

Perhaps his weakest performance of the season. His solid partnership with Toure was disrupted- something they need to get back on track.

Boateng-6

Great pass to Silva for the goal, but still doesn't look the player i expected.

Barry-5

Followed up his poor display against Arsenal with another one.

Yaya Toure-5

One brilliant run. Other than that still yet to convince.

Milner-5

Hasn't performed up to the required standard since his debut.

Silva-6

Was often quiet due to little support. Only player who looked like making something happen.

Ballotelli-6

Started brilliantly, but faded.

Ade-6

Again he started well and got his goal. Missed a great chance. Shouldn't have been replaced for Zaba.

Zabaleta-5

Not his fault, but a very bizarre sub.

Jo-5

Couldn't make an impact.

Johnson-6

I do feel he performs better when coming off the bench, but it is becoming more and more frustrating that other players are starting before him.

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This may be the most confusing performance I've ever seen as a City fan. When we were ****, at least we knew what to expect. For the first 10 minutes of this match, we seriously could have gone toe to toe with Inter or Barca. We scored, then... what? I don't even know how to explain the rest, completely mind-boggling rubbish. Only credible performers were Adebayor, Silva, and Johnson. Balotelli started very well but got tired, sloppy, and petulant and should have come off. Only reason I can think of for him staying off is he can score from anywhere but he was losing possession all the time later on. West Brom could be just as tough as this.

Oooh, don't agree with the rating for Micah at all - he kept letting cross after cross fly in including the one that led to their second goal. Still needs to buck up his ideas today. We clearly miss both Tevez and DeJong, but i won't be too hard on Boateng, he is a right back after all! Can't wait for Kolarov to come back, hopefully this was Kompany's only off day this season, and Yaya Toure certainly needs to work with the fitness coaches. Kolo was dire, I guess he was brought back too quickly - does Mancini not rate Lescott any more? Mario showed flashes of what he can do, but it's clearly going to take him a while to get up to speed. All in all a very dissapointing day, but we shouldn't forget that Chelsea struggled to overcome Wolves last match, and our strikers are hardly what you could call match fit. Bad day at the office and full credit to a spirited Wolves side, but let's forget this and concentrate on Poznan.

very fortunate still to be 4th tbh, players will have to dig deep now in my opinion, because the next few games are tough. no matter how poor they are a win against poznan would be a boost going into the west brom game.

HAHA, millions of pounds spent on mercenaries, and how the f... up, barely scrape by against blackpool, gets hammered against Arse, and looses to wolves...Auch, this team is just f...... crap.. 34 years and still counting... will you even qualify for Euroleague?

Don't be silly Nordkap. Couple of defeats and you're asking a nonsense question like that? We're still in a good position and have shown already this season that we have the quality to secure that top four target. This is just a blip.

We're still only 3pts behind your "unbeaten" team, nordkap. By the way, how much did Clattenberg cost this time? After the Roy Carroll incident, you'd think he would be banned from Yarnited vs. Spurs matches but outdid himself again yesterday.

Simply isnt good enough, we scrape a stuffy win v newcastle then bpool and have failed to pick up points at sunderland aswell as dropping points v bburn (Arsenal i can take) if u take off our 2 stuffy wins and we are mid table and it simply isnt good enough, Almost every season city start off great but after 6-8 games we just go crap and back to the same old city, why is it that arse,chel and utd can all score when needed but we fail every single time! (and them subs yesterday were a disgrace i thought we had hughes back as manager for a few minutes!, simply not good enough and if we dont beat wbrom and then get beat off utd im affraid its bye bye Mancini for me, we are already out of one cup because of the managers team selection

Sacking Mancini would accomplish nothing except a). hitting the reset button again, b). finding a new manager who will want his own players, meaning another 100+ mil to spend (not possible with the new UEFA rules). Also, there are no good alternatives available at the moment. Who will we bring in? Rijkaard just flopped in Turkey, Hiddink is MANAGING Turkey, Guardiola and Mourinho are tied up in contracts, and a "hard working British" manager like Moyes or McLeish will take us backwards as they are better working with a budget, just like Hughes. Mancini deserves as much time as possible, he has shown he can win us games, the players are letting him down in the "minor" games by not showing the same workrate as in the big games.

LOL at stu and fcb still going on about clattenburg, yeah he messed up in the spurs and utd game yday but so have other refs why would he need investigating after the fine show he put on in the city and arsenal game. Oh let me guess it's still not a red card to you lot LOL

No Fifth, I was referring to that scene in Dumb and Dumber where Harry and Lloyd were playing "you're it". I'm always reminded of it when I see P.Avfc posting, as he just can't help himself but get the last word in.

This conversation has nothing whatsoever to do with Boyata, and everything to do with Turdinand esacaping a booking, Nani getting away with deliberate hand ball (and a blatant dive), a goal that should not have been allowed and a generally pathetic and incredibly suspect referee. P.S. Pavfc - You're it. (Silent sh or not)

Erm but what has city got to do with clattenburg? It is clear that pedmore is trying to prove a point that he is a poor ref after he embarrased himself in his ridiculous article on the boyata challenge...Nuff said :)

P.Avfc, dont you think you should focus on your club? Because I watched that game, and it was one of the most boring games of "football" I have seen, absolute joke of a game. As for Clattenburg, he is also a joke, Gomes even seeked clarification from Clattenburg, and all he did was shrug his shoulders like he didnt know what he was doing. (I can guarantee that P.Avfc will say "Your still bitter about Villa beating Everton")

Rob, clattenburg makes mistakes like every other referee, gomes should grow some brain cells and realise the advantage was played. It's clear they are trying to get justice on the boyata red card when theres none at all, foolish people. and i do focus on my club also, aswell as sharing my points across the vital network it's what it is here for. And yes i wont lie it probably was the most boring game i have seen for a while but not our fault birmingham's defending and overall shape was fantastic.

Yes, but not all referees are banned from taking a fixutre (i.e. merseyside derby) for absolute *****e refereeing, he has made mistake after mistake, it was partially Gomes' fault for not playing to the whistle, but as I said he asked Clattenburg about the situation and the retard shrugged his shoulders. There was no advantage, if he did pay the advantage, then he shouldve called it back after Nani scored (because how is the other team scoring an advantage??). Also, P.Avfc, it became their business when a united fan came onto the article, he never mentioned Clattenburg in the article itself, and you are the one to bring up the Boyata red card, they never said anyhting, seriously P.Avfc, you need to know when to let things go

What has citys result gotta do with Clattenburg?, And we could all see it was a red card offense P.Avfc, its just some refs would of given a yellow due to where and how the incident took place, 1 the player wasnt even in the box, 2 he was running more or less away from goal, 3 he over hit the ball, 4 wheres the consistancy from the refs?, Because the only constant i see is at Owed Stafford where Rangers always get the correct decisions, 5 why are you even on our site?

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